A Change of Heart
by Amodako
Summary: Here, those of us blessed with talents that are considered of the supernatural, gather for our problems.


Amodako: I'll update to 'Basic Instinct' eventually. I just like to start stories and this may become an ongoing project.

Ah, shout-out to Sheik's Lonely who has gone behind me and fixed some details and helped me with the outline of the story. Anything pretty or well-written you see in this story is her doing. So, yeah, she practically wrote the whole latter part of this chapter.

- - -

Chapter 1: Hyoutei 1/10 - Gakuto

_You never should fly in a storm_, Gakuto decided at that moment as he weakly stroked his damp wings. They both were battered and covered in scratches and he was unable to move them much without feeling pain. As they were still drying from his rather nasty tumble into the sea he couldn't even flap them, much less fly.

"I'm not doing so hot…You go out for one little recreational fly session and see where you end up?" He mumbled, allowing himself a bittersweet smile and sardonic chuckle.

Gakuto wasn't quite able to mask his powers either, as he was lacking the energy needed to do what was previously considered a menial task, so he was resigned to dragging his limp crimson wings behind him.

Since the memories from three years ago of getting throw out of his hometown at the age of fifteen after a violent riot were fresh in his mind, he was desperate to find shelter from the sideways blown rain and out of plain sight.

The red-head stumbled a bit as he continued to make his way up the beach, searching for some inlet cove to duck into.

'_I can't even connect with Yuushi. What the hell's wrong with me? He's my partner after all.'_

The redhead winced as he dragged a wing over a rock, feeling the skin break. Doing a series of jerks and back twists to prevent getting the wing snagged on the rock, he only ended up twisting his foot in the wet, sinking sand. Tripping over his awkwardly positioned leg, Gakuto hit the ground and stayed there, breathing harsh and uneven.

'_Okay, gotta get up and keep going. Gotta…'_ His eyes fluttered open and close and he stirred slightly as he attempted to stand up. Sucking air in sharply as a newfound pain in his ankle protested the movement, the small teen wondered how he always managed to get himself in these sorts of predicaments when Yuushi's presence was gone from his life for more than a few hours.

- - -

Things weren't so bad now. At least it was warm.

…Wait.

He shouldn't be warm while lying on cold, wet sand and covered in injuries.

Well, okay, maybe the sun came out.

But why would that suddenly make the grainy rocks that had been digging into his skin soft and fluffy? And was that a _pillow_?

Bracing himself for the usual kidnap scenario, he opened his eyes and blinked blurrily. Odd, he couldn't really remember even passing out. But even odder was the fact that he wasn't tied up.

Either these were some nice kidnappers or they were really stupid. No matter, both could work to his advantage.

Groaning as he always did when waking up, Gakuto sat up and rubbed his eyes. Noting the well lit factor and emptiness of the room, he began to seriously doubt that this was the normal sort of abduction he was use to.

'_At least they had the decency to keep the room heated…'_ He thought before deciding to test if this was real or just some sort of prank the others decided to pull on him. That scenario would make sense, seeing as he had done something to all of them, including Yuushi. Scratch that; **especially** Yuushi.

"Yuushi…?" He called out timidly, using that tone that his partner just couldn't ignore. He berated himself for trying, remembering that they were currently fighting.

"Eh, sorry. He's not here." An apathetic voice rang out from seemingly nowhere.

Searching for the source he found a boy with a small fragile build sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. Had he been there the whole time? He could have sworn that no one had been sitting in that chair earlier…

"Who're you talkin' to brat — Oh! The kid woke up!" Gakuto peered out of the corner of his eye without moving his head to spot an older male entering the room through a door.

Debating in his mind which one was a bigger threat, he settled that the older one was larger and probably the head of things, so he turned to face him. Before he started his negotiating, he sent Yuushi a message through their link. Apparently Yuushi was sleeping, so his message was stored into Yuushi's inbox of mental mail. Eh, the Kansai boy would wake up eventually; he didn't sleep for long intervals.

"Look, what do you want? What do I have to do to ensure my safe return to where I came from?" He politely questioned.

The older one scratched his head lazily and gave Gakuto a confused and, what could have been taken for amused, look. "Wha?" He answered unintelligently.

Gakuto unconsciously grimaced and sniffed primly at the man's unkempt appearance. His hair was messy and all over the place and he had rough stubbles of hair coating his chin unevenly. What sort of hellhole had he been dragged out to now?

"I want to leave. You aren't going to let me, obviously. What do you want?" He condensed, practically biting off words already.

After a moment's pause, in which the big oaf blinked owlishly, he finally grinned in an almost lecherous way. Gakuto shuddered at the thought of what that meant.

"You hear that boy? This kid is actually somewhat diplomatic! You could learn something from him!" A snarky reply of, "No thanks." Was heard immediately.

Chuckling, the oaf (which was what Gakuto was deciding to refer to him as) waved a hand. "Sorry to disappoint you, but you're not leaving any time soon, no matter what you've got to offer."

Gakuto might have grown accustomed to denying the many claims that he was spoiled that he seemed to get daily back at the academy, but for some odd reason that hit a nerve.

"_Excuse me_?" He snarled, feeling completely justified in asking.

The old oaf yawned and waved a hand carelessly. "Neh, Ryoma, tell him what he wants. I'm tired." He grumbled as he slouched off.

Gakuto immediately shifted his attention. "You want to play hardball? Fine. But I'll show you why it would have been intelligent to tie me up." He hissed as he flexed those familiar muscles in his back that regular human beings lacked. He was so used to it that he could practically imagine the whooshing sound and see a few crimson feathers fluttered around him…

But after a moment he realized the problem.

"My wings? What's wrong with them? **_Why are they so small_**?!"

The small bratling, the one called Ryoma, shrugged languidly and shifted in his chair. "I don't know. They disappeared after we dragged you off the beach. It's not like we clipped them or anything. That's why we're not letting you leave. You're hurt."

Gakuto reached longingly for his usually elegant, soft feathers and found his fingers meeting ragged, coarse things he wouldn't ever consider calling wings.

"…I don't believe you!" He screamed, practically hysterically.

_**XXXX**_

_I'm falling. My safety nets aren't there to save me._

_Yuushi. Catch me…_

_Why haven't you cared lately?_

_**XXXX**_

- - -

Ryoma dabbed the older boy's arm gently, his face twisted in a disgusted grimace. "Do you feel better now that you've hurt yourself?"

Gakuto made a grunting noise in his throat as a response, not at all sorry to have caused his keepers more trouble.

"You know, you probably should be thankful to us." He began thoughtfully, throwing the rag into the basin of warm water and moving it towards the door.

The winged teen frowned at that statement. "Why the hell should I be thankful? You haven't done a _thing_ to—!"

The golden eyed boy sighed and rolled his sleeves back down. "We brought you in from the weather. Hurricanes kill people, you know. We've hid you from locals around here. Normal people don't always accept people like you. And then we've fed you, kept you warm, given you new clothes, treated your wounds, and I just stopped you from throwing yourself out a window. It's been weeks. How can you possibly say we haven't done a thing to help you?"

Gakuto puffed up him chest angrily and turned his back to Ryoma. He didn't have to talk to him if he didn't want to.

- - -

He liked standing on the roof. Their house was situated on a cliff by the sea, so the breeze smelled of salt and hidden life.

Even though the weather was still damp and rainy from the passing hurricane and the sun hadn't come out that often lately, standing on the roof with the gentle gusts as his company reminded him of the real beauty hidden in nature.

And as the wind blew through his hair and rustled his small, now growing feathers, he felt as though he could fly.

Maybe…

**_XXXX_**

_If I fell, would you catch me? I can't fly forever on my own._

_If you blink or turn away, I might die._

_**XXXX**_

- - -

Ryoma sighed exasperatedly as he tied the dressing and allowed the red bangs to fall back in place. "Are you trying to commit suicide or something? What were you thinking, jumping off the roof like that?"

Gakuto stared at his fingers, not answering. Ryoma growled in his throat and slumped into a chair, putting the excess bandages away. "You're an idiot. If you want to go and kill yourself then just do it. Stop wasting everyone's time and being a big hassle and—"

"Shut up…!" He mumbled, reaching up hesitantly and touching his bandaged head. "It's not like I _want_…You don't…You don't even know!"

Turning wild eyes to the younger boy, he made jerky movements as to attack him, only to withdraw and run shaky hands through his hair.

"I don't mean to inconvenience everyone…I don't want to be needy… And so what if Yuushi could have made better decisions than to be my partner? He chose me, didn't he?! So why am I the inconvenience here? I'm trying! I really am! I—!"

**_XXXX_**

_Do you think that I'm holding you back? Is that why you can't meet my eyes as of late?_

_You're killing me Yuushi. I can't stand up on my own._

**_XXXX_**

"…I…I'm not trying to be a problem…! If I am…you're supposed to deal with me. That's what a partnership is about, right?" He closed his eyes wearily and slumped back onto the bed.

"What are you talking about?" Ryoma asked, sounding offended, "I don't know what the hell you're rambling on about."

Gakuto made no movements towards explaining. Sighing again, the brunette scooted his chair closer to the bed. Poking the red-head's forehead repeatedly, he said, "You've been here for almost a month and you keep talking about random partner stuff that doesn't make sense. So I think I have the right to ask what it's about."

"Where's your dad?" Gakuto sniffled out.

Ryoma shrugged. "Out doing something. I really don't know. What's this about a partnership?"

Gakuto gazed tiredly at the boy. "Fine. Stop poking me. Yuushi's my partner. We leech off each other. I borrow his power and he borrows mine."

Frowning, he began mumbling to himself. "But lately I can't leech his power. I can't even use my own. And he's dragged down by me all the time. He should have chosen Atobe or Jiroh like everybody wanted him to…"

Making a cocoon of blankets around himself, Gakuto promptly began ignoring the world.

- - -

"Why are you so interested in the partner ordeal?" Gakuto asked as he took a bite out of the sweet potato.

Ryoma sat down on a rock and looked out at the ocean in front of them. "Would it be better if I just asked you outright about where you came from? What I gathered from the way you talk about everything is that you flew in from a school or something."

"Not that it's any of your business or anything, but it was an academy. People like me go there, live there, get better at controlling their powers, get partners, and get help for their mental issues. And yes," He said at Ryoma's facial expression, "We all DO have some mental issues. Comes with the power, I guess." Shrugging, he took another bite out of his potato.

Ryoma just stared at his instead of eating it. "So there's a place for you people…" He muttered.

Gakuto glared. "Why do you care?"

Ryoma side-glanced at his somewhat friend. "You know, it may have never occurred to you, but I might have a power myself."

Gakuto frowned. "You do? What is it?"

Ryoma shrugged noncommittally. "It's really just troublesome. I need to gain some control over it."

Humming, Gakuto dismissed the new slightly baffling thoughts and bit into his warm treat. "Ah, this really hits the spot when it's all cold and dreary like today!"

"Weren't you angsting or something last week?" Ryoma asked in a bored tone.

"Eh. I've sort of made up my mind." Gakuto answered, taking on a semiserious expression.

**_XXXX_**

_If you can't appreciate that I'd die for you, maybe we aren't really in love._

_Maybe everything you told me was just a lie?_

**_XXXX_**

- - -

"I'd leave this godforsaken place if my wings would get big already!"

Gakuto had days like this. Sometimes he was content, relaxed like he was on a break from something stressful he'd run away from. Other times he'd get agitated that he wasn't held there against his will but in another way not really.

"Do your wings have to grow physically?" Ryoma asked distractedly as he played a handheld video game.

Gakuto sighed as he fingered his mid-length feathers. "They did grow a little over the past two months, but I think they've stopped. In a way, I think these wings are really just attached to my soul the way other powers are. So I guess it's now spiritually that they need to grow."

Ryoma shrugged. "Those issues you've got with you're partner are what's keeping your wings short, then."

Gakuto threw a hair brush at him. "Don't make fun of me."

- - -

As he stared up at the inky black sky while lying on the roof, he was reminded of Yuushi. And how much he missed him.

Sure, the Kansai was annoying at times with his superior abilities and constantly sarcastic attitude, but he was Gakuto's annoying partner. They were a part of each other in a way words couldn't describe.

What if Atobe had snagged him while he'd been away…?

**_XXXX_**

_Would you leave me that fast?_

_Or maybe our outlook on time is just drastically different._

**_XXXX_**

He shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts. The only way for them out of their partnership, especially since they'd been bonded even further by having sex, was for one to die.

Why could he still not reach Yuushi through a mental connection, then? Was he being…blocked?

**_XXXX_**

_Even though I'm trying to be strong, I can't hold myself together._

_Not as well as you can._

_**XXXX**_

- - -

"I've decided that…well, Yuushi and I need to talk. So I'm leaving."

Ryoma raised an eyebrow. "Really? How?"

Gakuto grinned. "I'll ride a bus to the train station, and then the train to a friend's house and we'll see how far I get from there. I should be able to make it back to the academy, though."

Ryoma stared at him for a few seconds, analyzing him. "…Can I come too?"

- - -

On a train for hours, legs cramping, squished up against each other, hearing others breathing and the train's wheels rumble on the track.

That was the environment that Gakuto began talking freely in.

"Yuushi's like my everything, you know? I mean, he's more than my partner, he's like…half of me." The words just popped out, and they freed a dam of emotions.

"So when he started acting weird, I got upset and hit him and then our relationship got all funny, and it was just fucked up, you know? So one day I was like, 'Hey, you know what? I haven't gone flying just for the scenery in while.'" They were tumbling out. The words had a mind of his own and he felt almost intoxicated.

**_XXXX_**

_I'm struggling to keep the peace._

**_XXXX_**

"And that's what it was supposed to be; a nice relaxing flight. But then I bumped into Yuushi and everything got fucked over and he made me mad and I yelled at him and called him names and said things like how I didn't want to be his partner anymore. So when I took off, I was all upset. And then I flew into a storm, which sucked some major balls."

**_XXXX_**

_Can you not tell how hard I'm trying?_

**_XXXX_**

Ryoma just watched him, allowing Gakuto to get his lingering bad mood out of his system.

"And it's not like I want Yuushi to be mad. I don't want to mad at him either. It's sorta like you're mad because you're mad and you don't want to be mad. And then it was practically all his fault for acting like he was cheating on me or had found some way to replace me and was gonna do it. I mean, fuck man, fuck! He knows I have the emotional capacity of a teaspoon!"

**_XXXX_**

_I know not everything is obvious, but I'll try to make things understood by all the parties involved._

**_XXXX_**

Shifting in the seat uncomfortably, he continued. "I mean, god, what the hell does he think I do all day, come up with reasons to be jealous? I don't think about my feelings or his feelings, mainly because I **can't**. I don't understand emotions! I don't understand my own and I just can't figure out anyone else's. Especially not Yuushi's. He's got a goddamn friggin' emotional mask on all the time! He acts the way he thinks he's supposed to act in a certain situation for the betterment of everyone else. And the pisses me off, you know?"

**_XXXX_**

_I really do want you here. I really do need you here._

_**XXXX**_

He was now waving his hands around drunkenly and people getting off the train were staring at him with eyebrows raised or lips pressed together in displeasure. Even though there was more space on the train now that passengers had either exited or scooted away from the two, Gakuto leaned heavily on Ryoma and ranted.

"And I 'm like, fuck man, why can't you care about yourself? He always has to do the mature thing and make the world easier for other people. And, I mean, what the hell's the point? The world is harsh and hard. Nice people only get used and, shit, doing the right thing is hard. So what if people think you're out of control because you don't keep your emotions bottled up inside? That's not healthy to do anyway, I think."

_**XXXX**_

_Please realize that…_

_**XXXX**_

Calming as he talked and was listened to, his speech slowed. "So, I guess my point is that Yuushi's just way too fucking nice. I mean, he just…he'll **_die_**, at the rate he's going."

**_XXXX_**

_I can't bear to have you leave me._

_That's why I get upset so easily._

_**XXXX**_

"Feel better?" Ryoma asked.

He thought for a little while before nodding. "…Yeah. Thanks Ryoma."

His mind reeled in awe at how light his body felt. A strange emotion swirled in his stomach.

"And you know, now I know what I'm going to say to Yuushi."

- - -

Oshitari opened his dorm room door to find himself facing his partner who had been missing for the past two and a half months.

"Gakuto?" Oshitari said incredulously, not quite believing what he was seeing. Remembering his short fuse and the amount of fighting that had existed between them prior to Gakuto's disappearance, he then questioned carefully, "Are you okay?"

Gakuto stared at the taller boy, emotions tangling and intertwining in his body. "I, uh, dropped this kid off at the main office. They'll be assigning him somewhere, though he'll probably end up in the Seigaku unit instead of in Hyoutei…"

Oshitari raised an eyebrow. "And somehow that's related to my question?"

Closing his eyes, the red-head focused. "I…" He tried, "I…I mean...After everything I realized that I just keep falling. Well, no, not really because you're here... Well...no, what I mean is...uh..."

Oshitari crossed his arms, somewhat amused by Gakuto's uncharacteristic tongue-tied state.

_/ I'm sorry._

_I don't know what we have I don't know what's wrong with us…_

_I'm sorry._

_I'm an idiot…_

_I'm sorry._

_Help me you bastard, I've been kidnapped again. I know. It's hilarious, right?_

_I'm sorry._

_What the hell's wrong with you and me? Why can't I contact you?_

_I'm sorry._

_Wish you'd open up the block and let me talk to you._

_If it'll make you feel better, sorry I hit you earlier…_

_I'm sorry for being an asshole._

_It's not all your fault like I said._

_I'm sorry._

_Let's still be partners, okay?_

_**I'm so sorry**. /_

The bespectacled boy frowned at the sudden rush of telepathic messages from Gakuto, whose mouth was still moving with no coherent sound coming out.

Rolling his eyes, he pulled Gakuto into a firm embrace. "Welcome back. I missed you." He offered warmly.

The shorter boy smiled in his shoulder and blinked rapidly as his eyes burned with tears.

_**XXXX**_

_I need you. I can't do anything by myself._

_I may be a burden, but you're okay with that._

_We'll deal with our problems together, so we'll be okay._

_**XXXX**_

- - -

Amodako: Next up, Oshitari.


End file.
